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First ever Startup Weekend Clark a big success

Close to a hundred participants attended the first ever Startup Weekend Clark, a 54-hour tech competition held on November 21-23 at SM C...

Close to a hundred participants attended the first
ever Startup Weekend Clark, a 54-hour tech competition held on November 21-23
at SM City Clark, Angeles City in Pampanga.

According to Celine Rivera, MetroClark ICT Council
Executive Director, the event was organized with the aim of generating
innovative breakthrough ideas from tech communities in the Metro Clark and
Pampanga area.

“The first ever Startup Weekend Clark was a big
success. We are happy to have given an opportunity for developers, programmers,
and aspiring entrepreneurs to share ideas, create business prototypes, and
initiate new startups,” said Rivera.

The event gathered experts from different business
fields to coach and mentor aspiring entrepreneurs to launch their concepts and
nurture them into successful startups.

Startup winners

Topping Startup Weekend Clark is first prize winner JobTags,
an app that offers a simple and engaging way to search for a job online by
combining the LinkedIn and Jobstreet.com concepts.

The second prize went to Let’s Tryke,
an SMS app for tricycles on call. Envisioned as #Uber for tricycles, the app
was built by Gordon College IT students and faculty.

Tapik.ph, which is an online content aggregator and
platform for all Philippine news providers and publications, garnered the third
prize.

Rivera
said that the winning teams will get one complete computer set and other
exciting prizes that will help them jumpstart their business.

The
three-day event began Friday night with the participants forming 10
teams based on the startup ideas they pitched. Each team was given a chance to
define and create a prototype for their chosen business models.

Coaching
sessions then proceeded on the second day as the various groups collaborated
closely to build their prototypes.On the third and final day, winners were announced
after the final pitching and prototype demo.

Some
of the other startup innovations spawned in the event include Airmart, which
delivers groceries right at your doorstep;SaveJuan, a weather and
disaster app; Biyahe Pilipinas and Travelite which
are travel portals; and Onemergency, an app providing contact
information on fire stations, hospitals, etc.

Mentorship
prizes

Startup
Weekend Clark organizers also gave out special prizes as part of its “adopt-a-startup”
program wherein local judges offered special mentorship prizes to selected
teams.

The mentorship prizes were awarded to JobTags, Let's
Tryke, and Onemergency, which were given special access to
professional support and advice from successful entrepreneurs in their
localities even as they continue to work on developing their startups.

“Metro
Clark currently does not have formal incubators so these mentorship
opportunities are critical to the survival of these startups,” said Rivera. She
added that these startups can also apply to Manila or Singapore-based
incubators at the appropriate time and if suitable.

Madlangbayan,
SM City Clark Assistant Mall Manager, also offered to introduce the members of
the team Airmart to the mall’s grocery tenants.

Startup
Weekend Clark was organized by Metro Clark Information and Communication
Technology Council in cooperation with TechTalks.ph and with the support of the
DOST-ICTO.